


Burden

by BiLaunchpad



Category: DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: Angst, Based on a Frank Angones Ask, Gen, Gosalyn is sad, based on a tweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-31
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:15:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25624252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BiLaunchpad/pseuds/BiLaunchpad
Summary: Gosalyn wanted to trust him.  The keyword is wanted.
Relationships: Drake Mallard & Gosalyn Mallard & Launchpad McQuack
Comments: 5
Kudos: 32





	Burden

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to the recent influx of asks of Frank's tumblr, we've gotten a lot of new content and info about this new season! And after seeing the one about an OOC Gosalyn quote where she says "LIAR!!", I decided to do this little fic after making this exchange of dialogue between them:  
> “You said you’d protect me. That you liked me. But now you think I’m a burden?”  
> “Gosalyn I-. I didn’t mean it like-“  
> “LIAR!”  
> Hope you enjoy it!

Gosalyn sat on the steps in the foyer of McDuck Mansion. Darkwing had told her that it was the safest place to be with how well guarded it was. And she’d believed him wholeheartedly. Up until a day ago, she’d never even known of the vigilante's existence. But for some reason, she trusted him. A lot. Maybe it was his goofy costume and demeanor that Gosalyn knew was trying to hide how much of a softie he was. Maybe it was the way that he’d acted so selflessly when he was saving her from Taurus Bulba’s henchmen. Or maybe… maybe it was the way he made her feel safe for the first time since her grandfather had died. The warm fuzzy feeling of hope that he awoke in her. She believed everything he said because she felt that he was the kind of man to keep his promises. Or at least, she had felt that way.

It’d been barely ten minutes ago. Gosalyn had been looking for wherever the bathroom was when she’d walked past the room that Darkwing, his partner Launchpad, and Scrooge had walked into. The door had been ajar, and although Gosalyn knew Darkwing had told her to stay in the foyer, she decided that she might as well eavesdrop if she was already in the vicinity. She stood quietly, sticking herself just a few inches from the gap in the doors, the way she had taught herself to eavesdrop from her years in the orphanage.

“What do you mean you’re going back out there for Bulba?!” The sound came from an exasperated old man with a thick Scottish accent, who Gosalyn had just gotten to know as Scrooge McDuck.

“Well, Bulba isn’t going to wait around forever! Not when he thinks she has the code!” A more stoic voice came next, Darkwing Duck's voice. “If we don’t do something soon, we’ll be endangering more than just Gosalyn’s life here. We’ll be endangering all of Duckburg and St. Canard!”

“Drake. Please.” A calming, deep voice came last. Gosalyn knew it as Launchpad McQuack, Darkwing’s partner. But who was Drake?

Gosalyn heard Darkwing give a deep sigh. “I can’t stand idly Mr. McDuck. This is my chance to show the world what I can do. That I’m not some weirdo costumed vigilante! That I can protect people!”

Scrooge grumbled. “Fine. I know I can’t stop you anyway. But what do you plan on doing with the girl laddie? You can’t expect to drop her back off at the orphanage and forget this ever happened.”

“But what else can I do?”

“Adopt her! I’ve seen how you two get along. You’re like two peas in a pod. And it’d probably mean the world to her if you did.”

The room went silent. Gosalyn wondered whether or not he’d say the words she had desperately hoped for since she’d met him. It was only a small chance that he would, but Gosalyn hoped for it more than anything she had ever hoped for in her entire life. “Please,” she whispered.

“Mr. McDuck I-. You can’t expect me to handle that burden can you?”

That’s all that Gosalyn heard before she left for the foyer.

Now she sat in silence, running the words of Darkwing through her head over and over and over again. Her mind fixated on what he had called her, “That burden”. She held back the tears that she wanted to cry. Why had she expected anything different from a man she barely knew? Why had she let her guard down? It was the same as all those people who had come through the orphanage, the same ones who had looked at her with disgust and disappointment, the ones that had called her those names….

“Accursed child, granddaughter of a wacko, demon, unsightly, unladylike, inconvenience, parents didn’t even want her, beast, wretched excuse for a child.” Their voices grew louder in her head, the names she tried so hard to ignore coming back to her in one tidal wave of emotions. And now she had one more to add to the list. Burden. And for some reason, that one hurt the most.

The sound of chattering voices brought Gosalyn back to reality. She looked up to see Darkwing and Launchpad walking her way, deep in whatever conversation they were having. They stopped in front of her, both with looks of concern on their faces. 

“Listen, Gosalyn,” Launchpad said. “I’m going to stay here with you while Darkwing takes on Bulba. When all is said and done, we’ll drop you back off at the orphanage and you can pretend this never happened. Alright?” 

“And what if he doesn’t beat him, huh? What if he loses and no one's here to stop Bulba?”

Darkwing struck a heroic pose, chest puffed out and hands on his hips. “Don’t worry! Darkwing Duck can never lose! After all, it’s my duty to protect everyone I care about!”

Gosalyn felt her hand tighten into a fist, the anger in her starting to boil over. “Don’t lie.”

“Huh?”

“I heard your conversation,” Gosalyn said. “So don’t lie.”

Darkwing looked shocked. The superhero facade faded away, leaving what Gosalyn assumed was his true nature. “How much of that did you hear?”

“Enough.” Gosalyn stood up from the stairs and walked towards Darkwing. The tears welled up in her eyes as she tried to hold back the bitter sadness that had mixed with her anger. “You said you’d protect me. That you liked me. But now you think I’m a burden?” 

“Gosalyn I-.” Drake knelt down, looking Gosalyn in the eyes as he put his hand on her shoulder. “I didn’t mean like-.”

“LIAR!!”

Gosalyn’s fist connected with Darkwing’s face. All those years of practicing punches to protect herself from the bullies in the orphanage combined with her rage, sending Darkwing onto his back. He didn’t respond as Launchpad rushed over to help him up. As Gosalyn watched Launchpad try to wake him up, only one thought rang throughout her head. “Run.”

And so she did, as fast as her legs would carry her. Out the doors of McDuck Mansion and down into the streets of Duckburg. She didn’t know where she was going, when she’d stop, how she’d pay for food. But none of that mattered to her. She wanted to leave the world behind, and the only way she knew how was to run.


End file.
